Defensehttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/taxonomy/term/330/all
enSpeak Softly, But Deliver A Big Hithttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2008-06/speak-softly-deliver-big-hit
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Dustin Brown Has Turned Himself Into The King Of The Crunching Hit in LA </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/author/jim-stevens">Jim Stevens</a> </div>
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<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/0807-Brown-dustin.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="384" /></span></p>
<p>Two things stand out when one meets Dustin Brown. </p>
<p>First, he is so mellow and soft spoken that you wouldn&rsquo;t expect him to be an NHL player. Second, he appears much larger than the 6-foot-0, 200-pound player listed in the 2007-08 Los Angeles Kings&rsquo; media guide.</p>
<p>Brown&rsquo;s progression as one of the NHL&rsquo;s top power forwards has been remarkably steady while going relatively unnoticed to even the most knowledgeable hockey fan not living in Southern California. </p>
<p>Perhaps most amazing is that Brown, whose size is average by today&rsquo;s NHL standards, led the league with 311 hits this past season after finishing second last season with 258 hits. All those hits were delivered while Brown skated on the Kings&rsquo; top line, led the team with 33 goals, played in all situations and finished second among all Kings&rsquo; forwards with more than 20 minutes of time-on-ice per game.</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-right"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Dustin-Brown-Check.2.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="238" height="329" /></span>A native of Ithaca, N.Y., Brown&rsquo;s dream at an early age was to play college hockey, which is only natural when Cornell University sits in your backyard. His parents emphasized education early on, and Brown excelled in the classroom. But when he realized following his freshman year in high school that college hockey was still three years away, his goals changed.</p>
<p>Brown jumped at the chance to play for the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey Association. Not only did he star on the ice, averaging 33 goals and 65 points in each of his three seasons in Guelph, he excelled in the classroom as well, capturing the league&rsquo;s Scholastic Player of the Year award three straight years.</p>
<p>Brown&rsquo;s physical game also developed north of the border.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In my second or third year, I started hitting more,&rdquo; Brown recalls. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not an easy thing to do, but I had a knack for it. A lot of it is timing, but once I learned how to do it, it was something I could bring to the game every night.&rdquo;</p>
<p>That was all the Kings&rsquo; scouting staff needed to see, selecting Brown as the 13th overall pick in the loaded 2003 NHL Entry Draft. </p>
<p>When ankle injuries limited him to only 31 games in the 2003-04 season, the Kings&rsquo; management decided to keep Brown with the AHL Manchester Monarchs to develop his overall game. While his physical game was NHL ready, his scoring skills needed some fine-tuning.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In my first year, I wasn&rsquo;t looked upon as an offensive guy,&rdquo; Brown says. &ldquo;I needed to find a way to stay with the Kings, so playing physical helped fill the void.&rdquo;</p>
<p>In his first full NHL season in 2005-06, Brown contributed 28 points and 175 hits in 79 games, a significant contribution for a 21-year-old rising star.</p>
<p>&ldquo;With each year of experience you learn a lot about the game at this level,&rdquo; Brown notes. &ldquo;When you begin to score at this level it gives you the confidence to do it every night and then it builds upon itself.&rdquo;</p>
<p>That confidence continued to blossom early in the 2006-07 season when Brown was paired up with a 19-year-old rookie sensation named Anze Kopitar. The two have been inseparable ever since. </p>
<p><span class="inline inline-right"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Dustin-Brown-Check.3.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="380" height="256" /></span>With Kopitar&rsquo;s help, Brown improved in all major categories, scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 81 games, along with his 258 hits, more than twice as many as any other teammate. Brown&rsquo;s time-on-ice average also jumped to nearly 19 minutes a game. Solid defensively, he also led all Kings forwards on shorthanded on-ice-time. Still, some members of the Kings&rsquo; organization wondered aloud if Brown would ever reach the 30-goal plateau.</p>
<p>That question has now been answered, as Brown emerged as one of the top young players in the game. With career highs in all categories again in 2007-08, Brown scored 33 goals and 60 points.&nbsp; He also played significant minutes on both the power play and the penalty kill units. Brown&rsquo;s league leading 311 hits were 45 more than anyone else in the NHL. Of the NHL&rsquo;s top 10 hitters in 2007-08, only Alexander Ovechkin scored more than Brown.</p>
<p>As a power forward, Brown&rsquo;s role on the Kings&rsquo; power play is to take a pounding in the slot, deflect shots from the points and get to the rebounds.</p>
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<h2>&ldquo;In my second or third year, I started hitting more. It&rsquo;s not an easy thing to do, but I had a knack for it.&rdquo;</h2>
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<p>&ldquo;Dustin has tremendous hands around the net,&rdquo; says Kings&rsquo; head coach Marc Crawford. &ldquo;His willingness to stand in the crease to provide a screen and create space for the other guys is as good as anyone in the league.&rdquo;</p>
<p>In evaluating Brown&rsquo;s play, Crawford adds, &ldquo;In each of his first three full seasons in the NHL, he has taken a significant step each and every year. Dustin is now at the point where he is very confident with the puck. He has an overpowering game, his shot is heavy and extremely accurate, and his physical presence has continued to flourish. Opposition defensemen are now leery of him on every shift not only because of his bodychecking but because of his abilities.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Still only 23, Brown is already a five-time veteran of U.S. National Teams, having played in the World Junior Championships in 2002 and 2003, and the World Championships in 2004, 2006 and again this year.</p>
<p>Brown was the youngest member of the 2002 World Junior team before helping the U.S. to their first gold medal in the 2003 World Junior tournament. In the 2006 World Senior tournament, Brown led the team with five goals and seven points. Post-season surgery on his mouth and a wedding date prevented Brown from playing in 2007.</p>
<p>Once the Kings were eliminated from the playoffs, Brown was again looking forward to representing the U.S. at the Worlds this year. Based on his rapid improvement in the NHL and his solid contributions to USA Hockey in past years, many feel that Brown is a good bet to line up for the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.</p>
<p>Jim Fox, the Kings&rsquo; TV commentator, is among those who see a bright future for Brown, both in a Kings uniform as well as wearing the Stars and Stripes of&nbsp; Team USA.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think he can be a mainstay with USA Hockey and play in two or three Olympic Games,&rdquo; says Fox, who has had a bird&rsquo;s eye view of Brown&rsquo;s development. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know of many guys that have all the assets that Dustin brings.&rdquo; </p>
<p><em>Jim Stevens is a freelance writer based in southern California.</em></p>
<h6>Photos - Getty Images</h6>
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Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/issue/2008-06">2008-06</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2008-06/speak-softly-deliver-big-hit#commentsDefenseDustin BrownLA KingsFeatureTue, 21 Jul 2009 19:45:27 +00001087 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comBreaking Out Of The Funkhttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2008-08/breaking-out-funk
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What Can Be Done To Develop Skills And Puck Poise Among Our Defensemen? </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/12">Harry Thompson</a> </div>
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<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/0808-Brian-Rafalski-3.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-_original " width="525" height="376" /></span></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Get there fast, move it fast and move it accurately.&rdquo;<br /><em>&nbsp;&ndash; Willard Ikola, legendary Minnesota high school coach, describing his breakout philosophy.</em></p>
<p>When Sergei Gonchar went crashing into the boards and was lost for the better part of the third period and overtime of the crucial Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals, television announcers bemoaned the fact that the Pittsburgh Penguins were left without a puck-carrying defenseman to lead the charge.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />Such a statement, especially when describing NHL-caliber players competing on the game&rsquo;s grand stage, may seem a bit odd, but ask a number of high level coaches and they&rsquo;ll point out that it all boils down to the same old thing. Not enough is being done at the youth level to allow today&rsquo;s defensemen to gain the skills and confidence to quarterback a team&rsquo;s breakout.</p>
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<h2>"&ldquo;All the top players have a very low panic point.&rdquo;<br /></h2>
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<p>The problem may start at the grass-roots level but it permeates through the Junior and college ranks and into the National Hockey League.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />A quick check of NHL rosters will show a limited number of &ldquo;puck carrying defensemen&rdquo; that general managers covet. From Gonchar to Brian Rafalski to John-Michael Liltes, most NHL teams are lucky to have one defensemen who can tote the biscuit or deliver a quick and accurate strike to kick his team&rsquo;s offense into drive.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />So why are puck-carrying defensemen in such high demand, and what is being done to create the next generation of nimble blueliners?</p>
<p>&lsquo;Chip&rsquo; Off The Old Block<br />One of the reasons most widely given is the conservative nature the game is being played at. As nine-year NHL veteran defenseman and current player agent Neil Sheehy wrote in his 2004 essay &ldquo;The Systematic Erosion and Neutralization of Skill and Play-Making in the NHL,&rdquo; &ldquo;the most skilled players are not given the freedom to exhibit their skills. Rather, they are coached to &lsquo;play the percentages&rsquo; and &lsquo;chip it in, chip it out&rsquo; &hellip; chip, chip, chip.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While this style of play may be effective &ndash; and boring &ndash; in the win-at-all-costs world of professional hockey, it has sadly made its way down to the grass-roots level, where coaches at the Squirt and Peewee levels feel more pressure to sport a winning record than develop skills and creativity among their players.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The emphasis on winning at the youth level has taken hold of our development,&rdquo; says Eric Rud, an assistant coach at St. Cloud State University who is coaching the U.S. Under-17 Select Team at this summer&rsquo;s Five Nations Tournament in Prievidza, Slovakia.</p>
<p>&ldquo;What happens in the world of winning is you create a whole bunch of robots. You can win a few more games in the short term if you chip it off the glass a lot and throw it in deep, but by the end of the season the team that&rsquo;s working on skill plays and passing the puck is going to bypass that team that doesn&rsquo;t work on their skills at all.&rdquo;<br /><strong><span class="inline inline-right"><img src="http://ushockeymagazine.net/sites/default/files/images/breakout_JM-Liles-1.jpg" alt="John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche keeps his head up to survey the ice as he leads the breakout." title="John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche keeps his head up to survey the ice as he leads the breakout." class="image image-img_assist_custom-300x442 " width="194" height="286" /><span class="caption" style="width: 192px;">John-Michael Liles of the Colorado Avalanche keeps his head up to survey the ice as he leads the breakout.</span></span></strong></p>
<h2>Breaking The Mold</h2>
<p>The challenge, then, is to change that mindset at the youngest levels where there is a growing concern that basic skills, along with the hockey sense to utilize them properly, are being stifled, especially in practice.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />Coaches who are more committed to teaching systems rather than working on the basic skills aren&rsquo;t doing anybody any favors, says Mark Tabrum, USA Hockey&rsquo;s director of the Coaching Education Program.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&ldquo;You can&rsquo;t execute a breakout without skating, puckhandling and passing skills,&rdquo; says Tabrum, who spent six years as an assistant coach at Colorado College. &ldquo;So a coach who practices breakouts before working on fundamental skills is wasting his time.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />Actually, coaches who concentrate on improving basic skills are in fact working on breakouts, just not in what has been considered a conventional way.<br />&ldquo;It is possible to work on the components of breakouts in every drill in a particular practice and not actually perform one breakout,&rdquo; says Princeton University Head Coach Guy Gadowsky.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This means that valuable ice time can be used for drills focusing on skill development through fun competitive drills instead of monotonous system repetition.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />Small area games, such as &ldquo;Pig in the Middle&rdquo; for beginning players to competitive three-on-three games for elite players, teach players to make quick decisions without panicking with the puck.<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />&ldquo;There are no drills that provide the combination of thinking, reading, reacting, competing, skating, passing, shooting and stickhandling as experienced in a small game,&rdquo; says Paul Cannata, head coach of Milton Academy outside of Boston.</p>
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<h2>The Right Mindset</h2>
<p>And as a player&rsquo;s basic skills improve, so too will his confidence to handle the puck more effectively. It&rsquo;s that puck poise that separates the average player from the elite player. It comes with experience and repetition, which is best learned in practice situations.</p>
<p>&ldquo;All the top players have a very low panic point,&rdquo; says Rud, a defenseman at Colorado College in the mid-1990s. &ldquo;The biggest thing you can do to improve your panic point is to be aware of what&rsquo;s going on before you even get the puck. Then you&rsquo;re so much more confident when you get the puck rather than just getting the puck and chucking it up the ice.&rdquo;</p>
<p>While there will always be times when chipping the puck out of the defensive zone will be a player&rsquo;s only option, it is always better to maintain possession of the puck on a breakout, either by making a tape-to-tape pass or skating the puck out of the zone.</p>
<p>&ldquo;As a defenseman you want to put your forwards in the best position you possibly can to get the puck in transition and going the other way,&rdquo; says Rud.<br />&ldquo;When you start with that mindset, it&rsquo;s a great start in the right direction in terms of your transition game.&rdquo;<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />That mindset will only come when players are encouraged to be creative at all ends of the ice. Some parents and coaches act as if a turnover is the worst thing in the world, while other coaches can live with a turnover if it&rsquo;s caused while trying to make a play.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The biggest mistake we make at the youth level is not allowing our kids to make mistakes,&rdquo; says Rud. </p>
<p>&ldquo;Hockey is a game of mistakes. You have to make mistakes to learn how to make the skilled play. If all we&rsquo;re doing is teaching kids the different ways to make the unskilled plays it doesn&rsquo;t help anyone.&rdquo; </p>
<h6>Photos By Getty Images</h6>
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Issue:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/issue/2008-08">2008-08</a> </div>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/2008-08/breaking-out-funk#commentsBrian RafalskiDefenseJack JohnsonJohn-Michael LilesNHLSkills DevelopmentFeatureMon, 20 Jul 2009 21:42:58 +00001025 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.com